2011 Reading #39: A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, etc. by Mack and Mack
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
31. Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge.
32. Those Who Walk Away by Patricia Highsmith.
33. The History of the Danes (Gesta Danorum) by Saxo Grammaticus, translation by Peter Fisher, edited by Peter Fisher and Hilda Ellis Davidson.
34. Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin.
35. Edge of Our Lives by Mark Rich.
36. My Mother Gets Married (Mor gifter sig) by Moa Martinson, translated by Margaret S. Lacy.
37. Edinburgh by Alexander Chee.
38. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
39. A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits by Carol K. Mack and Dinah Mack. All bestiaries, as far as I'm concerned, are judged against Katharine Brigg's astoundingly entertaining and informative book An Encyclopedia of Fairies; by nearly all standards, this book falls short. The only respect in which it is notable in comparison with the Briggs is in its attempt to draw from a wider range of cultures, but that attempt is also part of the problem here; the creatures are drawn from living religions, dead ones, legends, fiction, and psychology--there's no real focus here, and the entries are rather shallow. I can't recommend this one.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
31. Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge.
32. Those Who Walk Away by Patricia Highsmith.
33. The History of the Danes (Gesta Danorum) by Saxo Grammaticus, translation by Peter Fisher, edited by Peter Fisher and Hilda Ellis Davidson.
34. Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin.
35. Edge of Our Lives by Mark Rich.
36. My Mother Gets Married (Mor gifter sig) by Moa Martinson, translated by Margaret S. Lacy.
37. Edinburgh by Alexander Chee.
38. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
39. A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits by Carol K. Mack and Dinah Mack. All bestiaries, as far as I'm concerned, are judged against Katharine Brigg's astoundingly entertaining and informative book An Encyclopedia of Fairies; by nearly all standards, this book falls short. The only respect in which it is notable in comparison with the Briggs is in its attempt to draw from a wider range of cultures, but that attempt is also part of the problem here; the creatures are drawn from living religions, dead ones, legends, fiction, and psychology--there's no real focus here, and the entries are rather shallow. I can't recommend this one.